1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates in general to an automatic door operating system for use in a motor vehicle, and more particularly, to an automatic slide door operating system in which the opening and closing movement of the door is carried out with the aid of a power device upon manipulation of a control switch.
2. Description of the Prior Art
Hitherto, in motor vehicles, particularly, in so-called "one-box" type motor vehicles having slide doors, various types of power systems have been proposed and put into practical use for opening and closing the door with the aid of a power device. One of such systems is disclosed in U.S. patent Application No. 07/526,653 filed on May 22, 1990 in the names of Soushichi KOURA et al.
The power system disclosed in the U.S. patent Application comprises a door moving device which is mounted on a vehicle body for moving the slide door in both directions to open and close a door opening defined by the vehicle body, a door closing device which is mounted on the door for enforcedly shifting the door to a full-close latched position when the door comes to a half-latch position, a latch cancelling device which is mounted on the door for cancelling the latched condition of the door just before starting of the door opening operation of the door moving device, and a control switch which is mounted near a driver's seat or the door opening for controlling the operation of these devices.
That is, when, with the slide door assuming an open position, the control switch is manipulated to pivot in one direction, the door moving device moves the door to the half-latch position and then the door closing device shifts the door to the full-close latched position.
When, thereafter, the control switch is manipulated to pivot in the other direction, the latch cancelling device cancels the latched condition of the closed door and thereafter the door moving device moves the unlatched door from the closed position toward the open position.
The door moving device and the door closing device are equipped with respective electric motors for producing motive power. The reason of usage of such door closing device in addition to the door moving device is that the shifting of the door from the half-latch position to the full-close latched position needs a great force because of a considerable resistance offered by an elastomeric door seal under such movement. In fact, the door shifting from the half-latch position to the full-close latched position is not achieved by only the power produced by the door moving device. That is, when the door is moved to the half-latch position by the door moving device, the door closing device starts its operation to shift the door from the half-latch position to the full-close latched position.
In the power system of the U.S. patent application, there is further employed an electric power feeding system for feeding an electric power from an electric power source mounted on the vehicle body to the closing device mounted on the door.
The power feeding system comprises an electric connector which includes a first connector part mounted to the vehicle body and a second connector part mounted to the door. The second connector part is brought into engagement with the first connector part when the door, during its closing movement, comes to a so-called "half-latch available position" which is near the full-close latched position of the door. The power feeding system further comprises a so-called "feeding start position detecting switch" which is mounted to the vehicle body. The switch completes the electric circuit from the electric power source to the first connector part when the door, during its closing movement, comes to a so-called "feeding start position" which is near the half-latch available position.
However, the power system described hereinabove has the following drawback.
That is, when, due to, for example, presence of a foreigh thing accidentally caught between the door and the vehicle body, the door is forced to stop at a position between the half-latch position and the full-close latched position during its closing movement, the control switch should be-manipulated to pivot in the opposite direction for stopping the power feeding to the motor of the door closing device. However, due to its inherent construction, when the control switch is released from the operator's finger, the switch is returned to the originally set position causing restarting of the power feeding to the motor. This causes a troublesome work for removing the foreign thing from such narrow space of the vehicle. In fact, the work for removing the foreign thing should be carried out by having the control switch kept pushed.